Update: The Callisto Protocol has since received various patches on Xbox Series X and S:
Original story: Digital Foundry's The Callisto Protocol analysis is here, and sadly, there are a few issues present on both current-gen Xbox consoles right now. Sure, the game is absolutely playable on the pair of Xbox Series systems (the same can't be said for the PC version), but the Series X and Series S have a few drawbacks at launch in terms of both visuals and performance.
Over on Xbox Series X, ray traced reflections are mysteriously missing where they're present on PS5; within the game's quality mode. DF says that RT shadows are still active, but when it comes to reflections, they're just not working properly right now on Xbox.
"We have passed this information along to the development team, and hopefully this will be addressed soon via a patch but it's highly disappointing as the look of the game benefits so much from what is a high-end implementation of this RT feature."
The premium Xbox console also suffers from some frame rate drops in quality mode, although a patch has been issued that cleans things up quite a bit here. The analysis still shows the PS5 ahead frame rate-wise in this mode though, with the 60FPS performance mode offering up very similar results across Xbox Series X and PS5. In other words, if you're buying The Callisto Protocol on Xbox Series X, performance mode is definitely the way to go for now.
Speaking of the performance mode, any such option is unfortunately absent on Xbox Series S at launch, with 30FPS the only choice on offer. Thankfully, the performance generally seems pretty solid within this mode, so it's just a shame we're not seeing a high frame rate alternative on Series S.
"Basically, you're sacrificing a lot in terms of image quality and fidelity [on Xbox Series S] but at least the frame rate hits its 30FPS target most of the time.... It's still a nice-looking game but it definitely lacks the fidelity of the more powerful machines."
Striking Distance Studios has already delivered one patch addressing some performance issues — as mentioned above — which shows promise that the state of the game could improve even further after launch. We certainly hope so anyway, and we'll be keeping an eye on how The Callisto Protocol progresses in the coming weeks.
How have you found The Callisto Protocol so far on Xbox? Let us know if you've run into any issues down below.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 27
sorry but i find raytracing on these consoles pointless
Know quality looks pretty and all but I’ve been playing performance mode as I’ve just become accustomed to 60 FPS especially with all the fast paced combat in this game.
And chatting with John Linneman on Twitter, he confirmed to me that performance mode is “quite good” on Series X. So if you were going for performance, don’t let it stop you from getting the game.
I’ve been having a blast!
I'm gonna get Callisto off game fly when I'm done with evil west
I'm glad I went with the PS5 version. The Dualsense controller alone makes me choose PS5 over my Series X when it comes to multiplats. Plus, the PS5 version has gyro aiming. I also choose to buy physical copies, so the 4K blu-ray PS5 version I prefer to the Xbox One/Series X blu-ray...
Just another game released to take advantage of Xmas purchasing. It has gotten to the point that any game released after August 31st can be considered suspect on quality until it is proven to be of good quality. aka God of War Ragnarök! At least Sony makes quality for Xmas!
@awp69 I've thrown that tweet in the article
Performance works, plays, looks amazing on the Series X.
Sony helped to develop the game, now I’m not saying anything…. But considering the way Sony pay to force games off Xbox or Game Pass, I wouldn’t put it past them to ‘pursued’ the developers to make the game perform best on PS5.
Game looks and runs worse on a weaker console. Shocker.
A little disappointed there's no PS4 analysis, from the looks of it. That's the version I'm most curious about, considering how less capable it is than the others.
@S1ayeR74
Same that Xbox does to games also.
I posted this in the wrong article previously. Still, ffs the weaker PS5 has better performance and RT features the more powerful Series|X is lacking. Sort your s**t out devs.
Edit: I almost forgot, this must be the fault of Series|S 😅
@S1ayeR74
But considering the way Sony pay to force games off Xbox or Game Pass, I wouldn’t put it past them to ‘pursued’ the developers to make the game perform best on PS5
I'm not judging you mate, but that is some PushSquare level conspiracy theory right there 😉.
@FraserG LOL. Thanks! I’m famous.
Raytracing is almost pretty pointless tbh...don't even notice it unless I am told ..and then I'm like oh yeah the reflection does match ..and I look for 10 seconds then never notice again ...I would prefer if power was put to use elsewhere
@uptownsoul @grumpypotato Sony had 150 devs working on this game. That would likely help…
Well that’s me out if the can’t be arsed to get it right on my series x.
Anyway it didn’t review that well.
@Sol4ris I didn't know it was the 'lead' console for the game, says it all really. Let's hope the devs decide rubbing Sonys cockles is tiresome and they release patches to boost the games performance in Xbox and PC.
lol at the ridiculous Sony stuff, they helped with things like mo'cap
@S1ayeR74
The PS5 being te lead platform or not, this should not happen. The Series|X is the more powerful console and what these developers should at minimum achieve is parity, from there start leveraging the extra power it has. But alas, the PC and Series|X got short handed...
Will definitely wait for a sale and many patches before buying it for the series s.I just bought cp2077 during Black Friday deals and now the games plays well on series s .
@uptownsoul Some games perform better on Series X and some better in PS5. That said, most games are nearly identical with each other on PS5 and Series X. This is one of the few cases where there’s a significant difference. So this is the case of where this ONE developer didn’t take the time to optimize correctly. And I actually think the RT issue is a bug.
These complaints are justified because there’s usually nothing to complain about.
@uptownsoul Nothing to prepare for because it’s not going to be a regular thing.
hm 150 playstation staff helped create this game... I wonder why xbox got left behind....there will be updates....I personally have played the game and think it's dope
@S1ayeR74 Seriously mate. Look at what you are saying? If Sony leant them 150 employees to get it right on ps5, then you would expect the ps5 version to have less issues of course.
To even suggest that there was some kind of attempt to hold back xbox, is just conspiracy theorism gone nuts. Much as you hate them, they get where they are by developing great software and doing what they can to spread good working prctices for ps development to all devs.
Instead of imagining conspiracies, those of us looking for the same level of support for microsofts platforms should be encouraging MS to do similar.
Theres no doubt parity or more could be achieved with a bit more tech support.
@Sifi
Oh well, that proves it then, industrial sabotage it is...
Do you honestly think that has anything to do with what we are disussing here? I would suggest thats thats why they choose to support the project so heavily, they saw the state of it and thought 'its gonna take more than a small team to bring this up to spec...'
@Titntin the help was around motion capture, audio cinematics.... all the good bits.
but around here it seems Sony are just evil, doesnt seem to have as good a mix of opinions as pushsquare
It’s pretty clear this is coming in pretty hot. Both PC and Xbox performance are below par and it’s clear they targeted PS5 first. Patches will no doubt clear this up, again a shame a game launches in this state. I assume they didn’t want to delay into, or after, Dead Space.
Bigger shame is a lot of bad to middling reviews. Seems like there are more fundamental gameplay problems
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